Mauro Cresti – författare

Comprising about one hundred plates this atlas documents anddescribes the processes concerning the sexual reproductionin higher plants. It is dividedinto three parts:- Anther Development- Pistil Development- Progamic Phase and Fertilization.The scanning, transmission electron and light micrographsare all of immaculate quality and - for the viewer'sorientation - almost each plate is complemented by a schemeshowing a larger area of the plant indicating the site ofthe section.Together with instructive texts, the often striking imagesprovide a valuable introduction into plant reproductive cellstructures for researchers and advanced students ofgenetics, plantbreeding and cell biology.

Comprising about one hundred plates this atlas documents anddescribes the processes concerning the sexual reproductionin higher plants. It is dividedinto three parts:- Anther Development- Pistil Development- Progamic Phase and Fertilization.The scanning, transmission electron and light micrographsare all of immaculate quality and - for the viewer''sorientation - almost each plate is complemented by a schemeshowing a larger area of the plant indicating the site ofthe section.Together with instructive texts, the often striking imagesprovide a valuable introduction into plant reproductive cellstructures for researchers and advanced students ofgenetics, plantbreeding and cell biology.

Biotechnological methods are opening new ways in plant breeding. They allow novel strategies for improving crop productivity and quality, especially in the agrofood sector. The molecular mechanisms underlying these biotechnological approaches are presented here. Topics included are: pollen development, pollen tube growth, macrosporogenesis and fertilization and the effects of pesticides on sexual plant reproduction. Fertilization in higher plants is a complex process consisting of two events, the fusion of the egg with one sperm cell resulting in the diploid zygote, and the fusion of embryosac nuclei with another sperm cell, leading to a triploid endosperm. This "double fertilization" is preceded by the pollination process and a long lasting interaction between the dipoid pistil and the haploid pollen tube (progamic phase). Fertilization of flowering plants results in the formation of seeds and fruits, our basic food supply.

Comprising about one hundred plates this atlas documents anddescribes the processes concerning the sexual reproductionin higher plants. It is dividedinto three parts:- Anther Development- Pistil Development- Progamic Phase and Fertilization.The scanning, transmission electron and light micrographsare all of immaculate quality and - for the viewer'sorientation - almost each plate is complemented by a schemeshowing a larger area of the plant indicating the site ofthe section.Together with instructive texts, the often striking imagesprovide a valuable introduction into plant reproductive cellstructures for researchers and advanced students ofgenetics, plantbreeding and cell biology.

Biotechnological methods are opening new ways in plant breeding. They allow novel strategies for improving crop productivity and quality, especially in the agrofood sector. The molecular mechanisms underlying these biotechnological approaches are presented here. Topics included are: pollen development, pollen tube growth, macrosporogenesis and fertilization and the effects of pesticides on sexual plant reproduction. Fertilization in higher plants is a complex process consisting of two events, the fusion of the egg with one sperm cell resulting in the diploid zygote, and the fusion of embryosac nuclei with another sperm cell, leading to a triploid endosperm. This "double fertilization" is preceded by the pollination process and a long lasting interaction between the dipoid pistil and the haploid pollen tube (progamic phase). Fertilization of flowering plants results in the formation of seeds and fruits, our basic food supply.

Based on papers presented at the International Symposium on Sexual Reproduction in Higher Plants, this volume covers the topics: micro- and macrosporogenesis, the activation and recognition of mature pollen, pollen germination and tube emission in vivo and in vitro, pollen and pollen tube cytoskeleton, stigma and style morphology, pollen/stigma interactions, incompatibility mechanisms and gene expression. The reinvestigation of classical topics using modern methods such as immunofluorescence, micromanipulation, freeze-substitution, electron microscopy, etc., is the common basis of all results presented. Especially applied aspects of sexual reproduction important e.g. for crop improvement, are discussed in detail.

In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the importance of reproductive biology to crop production and there has been a tremendous increase in research on reproductive structures of higher plants. Presented here is a wide information of different aspects of micro- and macrosporogenesis, pollen-stigma interaction and recognition, pollen tube growth, cytoskeleton, in vitro and in vivo gamete fusion, and incompatibility. The most advanced techniques employed in studies on reproductive biology of higher plants are described in detail.